At that time, basketball was mostly a hobby for DeShawn Stephens. Despite an eye-catching growth spurt between his sophomore and junior years, he had not played in high school and was not exactly aching with ambition.

Now, the shoes are on the other feet and they are formidable.

Stephens scored a career-high 16 points in the Aztecs’ 74-62 victory over USD Wednesday night, matching his previous best with nine rebounds and logging 32 minutes in relief of the sore-kneed Tim Shelton. Since Stephens had produced no points and no rebounds in Sunday’s conquest of California, this qualified as a major and breathtaking breakthrough.

“We weren’t expecting that from him,” USD’s Chris Manresa admitted.

“He’s long and athletic and was kind of an X factor for them,” USD coach Bill Grier said, “and that really helped set the tone for this game.”

DeShawn Stephens remains more raw than refined, a 22-year-old player of limited range and little nuance. But he’s a nimble 6-foot-8, equipped with a variety of short-range finishing moves, and the kind of athlete who can handle certain tasks if he’s not asked to do too much.

Sunday, Stephens said he lacked some focus. Aztecs’ coach Steve Fisher wondered if he was trying to do too much. But assigned more narrow responsibilities against the Toreros, DeShawn Stephens was a difference-maker.

His three-point play with 2:03 left in the first half tied a game SDSU had trailed by as many as 12 points. His first seven field-goal attempts were all successful, and only a missed tip with about eight minutes remaining prevented him from a perfect field-goal percentage.

With Shelton starting the game, but limited to just seven minutes, and USD seizing 12 of the game’s first 15 rebounds, Stephens came off the bench to supply Fisher the interior muscle he had been missing and to rally the Aztecs to their ninth victory in 11 games.

Since Stephens is already a junior in terms of eligibility — having transferred to SDSU from Santa Monica College — it is unlikely that he will achieve basketball maturity on Montezuma Mesa. Yet on a team short on able bodies and missing last year’s front-line shot-blockers, Stephens is a work in progress worth watching.

“The sad thing is if he was a freshman or a sophomore, we’d all be able to see (his growth),” Fisher said. “He’s going to be so much better a year from now, but we need him to be better next week and next month.”